Details on Bullock's arrests emerge; murder suspect expected to be arraigned on Monday

New details emerged Friday about the apprehension of the Redway man suspected of killing a popular priest during a violent struggle in the St. Bernard Catholic Church rectory on New Year's Day and his activities in the hours after his release from jail that morning.

Gary Lee Bullock, 43, was arrested Thursday afternoon near his family's home in Briceland, less than two hours after Eureka Police Department Chief Andrew Mills announced that a warrant had been issued for him in connection with Rev. Eric Freed's death.

"A sheriff's sergeant called his mother at her home and learned that he was there," Mills said.

Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Lt. Steve Knight said Bullock's family was unaware there was a warrant out for his arrest.

"They had no idea he was wanted when we contacted them," Knight said. "The family was cooperating."

After learning of the warrant, Knight said Bullock's stepfather took Bullock in his car and drove him down Elk Ridge Road in Briceland to meet with sheriff's deputies.

"Bullock had no idea that law enforcement was waiting for him," Knight said.

Deputies made a traffic stop and took Bullock into custody on suspicion of homicide without incident at around 12:45 p.m. Custody was then transferred to EPD officers who met the deputies halfway between Garberville and Eureka, according to Knight.

Freed's missing Nissan Altima was also found in the vicinity of the house and was seized by the EPD, according to Mills.

Bullock was booked into the Humboldt County jail at 7:34 p.m. Thursday. His bail is set at $1 million, and he is expected to be arraigned Monday at the Humboldt County Courthouse.

Knight said the jail followed normal procedure when Bullock was released at 12:43 a.m. on Jan. 1, less than nine hours before Freed was found dead after he didn't arrive for a 9 a.m. Mass.

Knight said the sheriff's office was required to hold Bullock for a minimum of four hours, but they held him for twice that time after his public intoxication arrest in Garberville on Dec. 31. He was originally rejected by the jail due to his erratic behavior and taken to a local hospital for evaluation -- where officials said he became agitated and had to be restrained by deputies -- before eventually being booked at 4:34 p.m. on Dec. 31.

Knight said Bullock was released "on his own recognizance."

"There was no indication, at any time, that anything bad would happen," Knight said.

In the next few hours, Bullock was apparently contacted twice on the St. Bernard Catholic Church's grounds -- which are within a few blocks of the jail.

The first was at 2:14 a.m. by an EPD office who responded to a report of a possibly drunk man who was "howling in the car lot" of the Nissan Dealership on Seventh Street, according to an EPD dispatch log.

After being removed from the lot by the caller, Bullock reportedly walked over and entered a bathroom at St. Bernard Catholic Church. The officer located Bullock and determined that he was not intoxicated. Bullock reportedly told the officer that he was looking for "HRC."

The EPD dispatch log indicates that Bullock was "advised against howling, and sent on (his) way" by the responding officer.

Mills said the officer referred Bullock to a nearby emergency homeless shelter.

Sometime in the later morning hours, a man matching Bullock's description was asked to leave the grounds by a church security guard.

Mills said the exact time of the break-in at the rectory and the assault on Freed is still unknown. His autopsy is scheduled for today.

Friends, colleagues, parishioners and his students at Humboldt State University, where he was lecturer in the Religious Studies Department, described Freed as a passionate man who lived the values he spoke about in his classroom and at the pulpit.

The Rev. Ron Serban of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Arcata said many priests have a catch-phrase they regularly use, and Freed's can help those suffering from his loss.

"His was, 'do not lose hope,'" Serban told the Times-Standard earlier this week. "Even with something as terrible as this, to not lose hope in God, in faith and in each other. Instead, seek healing and forgive."